The field of the invention is welding systems. More particularly, the invention relates to the automatic detection of and control following detection of a spool gun in a welding system.
Welding is the process of joining two or more metal parts by bringing metals into a molten state in which they flow together to create a welded joint. Some welding processes employ a wire feeder connected to a welding power source and a welding gun. Typically, the wire feeder controls a main spool of consumable electrode in the form of a welding wire and is configured to deliver the wire to the welding gun through a cable connection. The welding gun provides a tip that exposes the welding wire, such that during a welding process the wire feeder initiates a high electric current that is transmitted through the welding wire to the exposed end at the tip of the gun. The electric current generates an electric arc extending from the tip of the gun to a welding surface. The heat produced by the electric arc melts the exposed welding wire onto the welding surface to create the welded joint. In a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) system and/or a flux cored arc welding (FCAW) system, a shielding gas provided by the wire feeder through the cable connection is also delivered at the tip of the welding gun to protect the welding process.
In many cases, the wire feeder employs a variety of welding guns, including a standard welding gun (“standard gun”) and a spool welding gun (“spool gun”). The standard gun receives a continuous feed of welding wire from the wire feeder, which utilizes a primary internal motor to feed the wire from the main spool located at the wire feeder through the cable connection to the gun tip. On the other hand, the spool gun incorporates a spool of consumable electrode wire and a motor or drive assembly in the gun itself, such that the continuous feed of welding wire during the welding process is provided directly by the spool gun rather than by the wire feeder. Since there is no need to feed the consumable wire from the wire feeder, the internal motor of the wire feeder is disengaged during employment of the spool gun.
To control this process, the wire feeder or other system provides a toggle switch for users to manually select whether a standard gun or a spool gun is attached to the wire feeder. Thus, user input ensures proper operation of the wire feeder and spool gun to avoid poor weld performance and/or damaged machinery. For instance, if a standard gun is attached to the wire feeder, but the toggle switch is set to the spool gun, then the wire feeder fails to deliver welding wire to the standard gun since the internal motor of the wire feeder would be disengaged for that setting. If a spool gun is attached to the wire feeder, but the toggle switch is set to the standard gun, then the wire-feeder motor delivers welding wire from the main spool despite the spool gun being attached. Since the spool gun is not configured to receive the wire feed, the welding wire may bind and collect at the spool gun, within the cable connection between the spool gun and the wire feeder, and/or at the wire feeder itself.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method that further facilitates proper operation of the wire feeder and standard or spool gun beyond relying on user input and proper operation of user interfaces.